NEW YORK: US stocks dropped sharply in early trade Thursday, following international markets downward as anxiety over global growth continued to prompt selling.
About 30 minutes into trade, the Dow Jones Industrial Average stood at 16,062.34, down 79.40 points (0.49 per cent).
The broad-based S&P 500 fell 13.75 (0.74 per cent) to 1,848.74, while the tech-rich Nasdaq Composite Index tumbled 43.05 (1.02 per cent) to 4,172.27.
Equity markets in Britain and France were down more than 1.0 per cent. Asian markets also fell sharply, with Japan's Nikkei tumbling 2.22 per cent.
"Global risk aversion is persisting amid exacerbated global growth concerns, fueled by yesterday's surprising decline in US retail sales," said a market note from Charles Schwab.
"Moreover, a flare-up in Greek debt concerns, festering Ebola fears, and heightened geopolitical concerns are adding to the dampened global mood."
Thursday's declines move the market closer to a full-blown correction, normally considered a drop of 10-20 per cent. The S&P 500 has fallen about eight per cent since its mid-September all-time high.
Investors brushed off positive news, such as a drop in initial jobless claims to 264,000, the lowest level since April 2000, according to the Department of Labor.
Dow member Goldman Sachs fell 2.1 per cent despite reporting a 50 per cent increase in third-quarter earnings to $2.14 billion in results that bested Wall Street expectations by a wide margin.
Video-streaming company Netflix plummeted 22.7 per cent on disappointing subscriber growth figures. The video-streaming company said it gained just three million members in the past quarter, to boost its subscribers to 53.1 million worldwide.
Apple fell 1.5 per cent ahead of an event in California later Thursday at which it is expected to unveil new versions of the iPad.
Chesapeake Energy bolted 13.5 per cent higher following news it will sell shale oil and gas assets to Southwestern Energy for $5.4 billion. Southwestern lost 6.9 per cent.
EBay dropped 4.9 per cent as it projected fourth-quarter revenues of $4.85-$4.95 billion, below analyst forecasts for $5.16 billion. The profit outlook was also on the low end of expectations.
Bond prices were mixed. The yield on the 10-year US Treasury held steady at 2.09 per cent, the same level as Wednesday, while the 30-year stood at 2.87 per cent, down from 2.88 per cent. Bond prices and yields move inversely.
Oil prices briefly dipped below $80 a barrel for the US benchmark contract, before coming back to 80.75, off $1.03 from Wednesday's close.
Source : economictimes
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